Goldenhand

An Old Kingdom Novel

Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. She's also a Remembrancer, wielder of the Dark Mirror. Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic. When Lirael finds Nicholas Sayre lying unconscious after being attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she uses her powers to save him. But Nicholas is deeply tainted with Free Magic. Fearing it will escape the Charter mark that seals it within his flesh and bone, Lirael seeks help for Nick at her childhood home, the Clayr's Glacier. Even as Lirael and Nick return to the Clayr, a young woman from the distant north braves the elements and many enemies in a desperate attempt to bring a message to Lirael from her long-dead mother, Arielle. Ferin brings a dire warning about the Witch With No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning? Once more a great danger threatens the Old Kingdom, and it must be forestalled not only in the living world, but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

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Loved it and found it to be of equal quality to the others. It had a satisfying ending with room for another novel to be produced but with no major cliff hangars that the reader must wait for to be resolved in future installment.

Nix takes us back to the Old Kingdom and I couldn't have been happier to be there! As always, I loved his world-building and (no spoilers but...) it was deeply satisfying to see the conclusion of a major story arc! Definitely give the audio version a try!

I love Garth Nix, and I love his Abhorsen series. This book was a little bit of a disappointing ending to the series. The pace of the book was off - the beginning was comfortable and then in the last 100 pages everything happened so quickly and all the conflicts were tied up with a neat little bow in no time at all. It felt as though he had started the book at his usual pace, and then rushed to finish it because he simply wanted it to be over.

The story itself was fine. The plot was decent. But there was some issue with characters losing themselves. In this book you meet Ferin, a girl from far in the north sent by a witch to deliver a message to Lirael. And you follow her for quite a few chapters as she makes her journey to the Clayr's Glacier. I enjoyed learning more about her and her people, who were previously unexplored in the other books. But once her message is delivered, she becomes a background character who simply hangs around for the rest of the book. She felt discarded. And Lirael, after she arrives at the Clayr's Glacier, seems to become a different person as well. It was difficult to link her with the Lirael I had come to know and love from previous books.

I would suggest reading it if you have read the rest of the series - which is fantastic - but it was a disappointing last book to one of my favorite fantasy series.